If elected, Sen. Bernie Sanders would become the oldest president to serve immediately upon his swearing-in, older than President Ronald Reagan on his final day in office. Sanders would be 80 before his first year is up. Just a few months ago, he suffered a heart attack on the campaign trail. Given these factors, Sanders faces a higher burden than a typical candidate to reassure voters that he is up to the rigors of the presidency.
Instead, after months of obfuscation, he has now reneged on his pledge to release his full medical records.
Last September, just before his heart attack, Sanders promised to provide a full accounting of his medical records before the Iowa caucuses. “I think it’s the right thing to do,” Sanders said. “The American people have the right to know whether the person they’re going to be voting for for president is healthy, and we will certainly release our medical records before the primaries. It will certainly be before the first votes are cast.”
Then, in October, Sanders had a heart attack and waited three days to disclose it. Though he has released three letters from doctors, he has still not provided detailed health records.
On Feb. 9, after the Iowa caucuses and ahead of the New Hampshire primary, NBC’s Chuck Todd revisited the issue with Sanders. The Vermont socialist was evasive, talking about the number of campaign events he does. He complained, “You can start releasing medical records, and it never ends.”
Todd then followed up by asking what changes Sanders had made based on the recommendations of his doctors. Sanders replied, “I’m trying to walk a little bit more, but the schedule doesn’t allow me. They didn’t say — I’m trying to sleep a little bit better. Sometimes that’s hard.”
So not only is Sanders pushing 80, and not only did he just have a heart attack, but he hasn’t even bothered to follow his doctor’s recommendations about lifestyle changes because his schedule is too busy. Here’s a question: If he is elected president, do you suppose Sanders will be less busy than he is now?
Appearing at a CNN town hall event recently, Sanders finally declared that he had no plans to release any further medical information. “I don’t think we will, no,” he said.
To make matters worse, Sanders press secretary Briahna Joy Gray then went on TV and attacked people who were asking for him to follow through on his promise to release his medical records. She claimed that it was all part of a “smear” campaign and compared legitimate questions about his health to the “birther” conspiracies that once swirled around President Barack Obama. She then claimed that Michael Bloomberg suffered multiple heart attacks in the past, only to retract her statement and admit that Bloomberg did not have any heart attacks but merely a stent procedure to help prevent heart attacks.
Then, in Wednesday night’s debate, Sanders tried to pass it off as if he had released all his medical records, citing letters from doctors.
Sanders’s two justifications for his secrecy don’t hold much water. It doesn’t matter what other medical details other candidates have disclosed because those other candidates are not 80-year-old men who recently suffered heart attacks. His argument that doing campaign events prepares him for the presidency is also dubious. Even if Sanders were in acceptable shape now, the bigger question is whether he can maintain that shape until he’s 83, which is how old he’d be at the end of his first term, especially given the stress, international travel, and mental and physical toll that presidents must endure.
We have long been advocates for increased transparency in government on both sides. We have, for instance, called on President Trump to release his tax returns voluntarily. We consider this issue to be even more important. It’s asking a lot from voters to put an elderly man with a heart condition in the most powerful position on the planet. The least Sanders can do is make sure everyone, beginning with Democratic primary voters, understands exactly how big a risk they’re taking if they get behind him.
